How to commit social suicide
by mizamiko
Summary: Xu Boyuan had it all planned... And then Ye Xiu came into the picture.


When Xu Boyuan finally gathered enough courage to commit the catastrophic social suicide that he knew that will be the byproduct of his intention… His current predicament was nowhere near any of his calculations.

With all the brainstorming that he did for the past few days, the conclusion of the whole situation had always been the same. He had been ready for mockery at best and outright humiliation and exile from his beloved Glory at worst. As the saying goes "Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst", Boyuan had even written his letter of resignation. That was how ready he was for the others rejection of his confession.

But as always, god Ye had ruined all his planning and again made all his preparation moot.

Now, a day later, in a plane that will bring him to Hangzhou City, Xu wonders how in the world did he end up with an open ended invitation for a date with the retired(finally) god Ye Xiu.

Happy Cafe was not what Xu Boyuan expected.

For the birthplace of one of the strongest team to have ever graced the Glory scene to be practically at Excellent Era's door step was practically an insult to the other team. But then again the one who created the Team was also one of the most shameless person he has ever had the displeasure of meeting so maybe it was not so surprising.

From what he has gleaned, god Ye was an Internet Manager for the cafe during the night shift. It had actually been a calculated move to come at midday. If god Ye was in anyway human he would be sleeping and he could give the excuse that the man was asleep when he finally came to visit. It was spineless. But given the fact that he was able to not only confess but also take the 2 hour flight to Hangzhou city to meet his current madness, Xu felt he could be forgiven a little cowardice.

So now, standing in front of the meeting place, Xu wondered how to proceed. It had been sheer audacity that got him to the cafe. No matter how sure he was that this was all just a big prank perpetuated by Ye Xui, as the one who confessed it fell to him to pull this through. Even if it was to be paraded and scorned in front of the Team Happy Pro players.

What felt like hours of dawdling, but was actually no more than a few minutes, Xu gritted his teeth and entered the shadowy cafe. This was actually aborted after the first step. The fact that he has no idea what the god looked like hit him.

In the two rounds in the 10th season that Blue Rain had against Happy team he had adamantly avoided attending the meet. As one of Blue Brook Guilds main members he had accesses to passes for select games. It had been intentional when he withdrew from the list of requesters for those particular matches. And if that had not been enough, Xu had actively avoided any live videos of the team members, watching only their avatars as they fought against each other. No interviews or victory celebration clips touched his computer.

It was at that point in time where he had been trying to understand his feelings for a certain incredibly irritating man. If he were to see what Ye Xie looked like, Xu knew, he may immediately give up on even trying to resolve his confusion. It was his first time to consider someone of the same gender. It was disconcerting and novel in equal measure. A concept he has never thought off and he lay the blame on the feet of a very sly, very manipulating man. He has never considered that he would ever get attracted to such a man. Someone who is blunt and straightforward yet has the patience to teach newbies.

He was afraid that if he saw the man he would turn into a gutless worm and shied away.

Ye Xiu took one look at the blue and white with a Blue Rain patch wearing younger man and knew immediately that the one who just entered Happy Cafe was Little Blue. He has always considered the other man as one who may be more than just a little naive but had courage in spades.

It took guts to come out and confess to someone. Not that Ye Xiu has ever done so. But he was never much of a gambling man and having another man come up to him in the middle of Setting Sun Waterfall area just to speak with him and ask him out had been both unexpected and very interesting. Humiliation and ridicule, from the way the other had spoken, was what the other had expected to receive. And as always, if his interactions with Blue River were any indication, the other kept going through sheer grit. Even when faced with odds that even Ye Xiu would never consider without stacking things in his favour, Ye knew the other would determinedly see things through.

And that may be the reason why he had agreed to meet and try things out with the Little Blue. The only one brave enough to rail at a god while other guild masters walked on egg shells. One of the few he would gladly add to his dungeoning party anytime because the other would never think of not pulling his own weight even when he is tricked into joining said party. Kind enough to help another guild, Ye knew the other could have said no anytime. Naive enough to trust a sly old fox. Trusting, far too trusting even after how many times he had been manipulated.

And yet.

And yet, here he was now.

Blue Rain jacket in the middle of Excellent Era and Happy Team territory. Flaunting his allegiance in the middle of enemy terrain. Utterly relaxed, as if he wasn't entering the lions den. Not that Ye Xiu would let anything happen to his guest. It was simply too amusing, interesting, entertaining and far too many distracting things. If he was going to try having a relationship he couldn't do too badly with someone who would dare defy accepted norms.

To have someone stare at him with such amusement would normally, 99% of the time, put him off from speaking with a person. But a certain gut feeling had Boyuan practically sighing. In exasperation or relief he had yet to decide.

"I'm not too late in coming am I?" Xu asked. Mentally he noted that the other looked tired. On his next visit, Boyuan will try to remember to plan things to make at Happy or wherever the team was lodged, and make something warm so the other man could stay home and relax instead. Then he chided himself on even hoping for a second visit.

The other shook his head, a wry smile ghosting his lips. "Most diners and restaurants would just be opening. You actually came at the best time."

It was an interesting experience for Xu. In Glory, when Lord Grim stood before everyone, the other gave a very oppressive presence. He wasn't in anyway immune to it as Blue River but it had never been completely directed to him. Knowing god, he might simply had not been good enough to need to do so. But god Ye Xiu and Lord Grim gave off 2 differing auras. One does not push him to pull out a sword at his mere voice. Which should be ridiculous since ones voice was of the few things that does not change in game and in real life.

Nodding his acquiesces. Xu stepped back to let the Ye lead the way. "I'll just let you pick since I'm not that familiar with the place."

The other man gave a half smirk, as if giving a full one was below him or he was simply too tired. "I highly doubt you didn't use Baidu to search the area in preparation for our date. Little Blue, you've never done that in Glory. I highly doubt you'd do so in rl."

Had he not been used to the others antics in Glory, Xu would have been face palming. As it was, it took much of his control not to do so. Mentally, Xu thought 'It's called politeness and giving your date a sense of choice. Also, too many first page ads to bother.'

"It's a conversation starter…" was all Xu could get out.

The measuring, amused look he was given spoke volumes. With a last quick pull on the almost finished cigarette, Ye Xiu came up level to Xu and brought up his hand.

"Hello! My name is Ye Xiu. You may know me as Lord Grim. I'm glad to meet your acquaintance."

* * *

Blue River: Soooo... an actual date?  
Lord Grim: Stay there! Happy found a rare Wild Boss  
(3 hours later)  
Blue River: After them! Lord Grim! Get back here!  
Lord Grim: Perfect date!


End file.
